Seize the day
by xNicole
Summary: Nicole meets a boy at café who calls himself Jc Caylen, asking her if she wants a ride home. First she denies, but then agrees after letting him almost beg for her to step into the car. He shows her he cares and wants to be around her, something that makes her a little nervous. She feels herself getting closer to the boy, not minding to be around him at all.
1. Chapter one

Instead of eating her lunch, Nicole was trying to calm herself down and glancing at her crush in front of her. The dark blonde had been one of her friends for a while now because her best friend was dating his best friend, but she just couldn't get used it.

She had always been this shy around boys, but around her crush-… God, there were no words for that. Gladly she wasn't the only one who was shy; her best friend, Valerie, had a hard time talking to Aaron for the first time and couldn't even look at him. But after a while she had grown more comfortable around him and then she got asked out, making that Friday night the most amazing night she had ever had. Or however she had described it to Nicole.

Sighing deeply but quietly, Nicole grabbed the water bottle with her shaking hands and took of sip from it, hoping nobody was looking at her that moment. What if they judged her because it looked weird, her drinking? What if he judged her?

"Hey," Valerie elbowed her gently in the side, making her look at her questionably. "Are you hanging out at my place or at your place after school?"

"Why are you asking me that?" she smiled, shaking her head dumbly. "You know I'm not good at choosing. And probably will never be."

"We'll hang out at mine," her friend laughed, taking the last bite of her sandwich. "I've to walk the dog, anyway." She rolled her eyes, but then lighted up right away. "Oh my god, babe, you could totally go with us. And are you also coming along, Dennis?"

The boy nodded his head at his friend's girlfriend, "Yeah, why not? Whatever. I don't have anything to do anyway-…" He stopped, looking at Nicole, "if you don't mind of course?"

It made her blush, looking away quickly, "yeah, that's alright. I'll just ehm… yeah, it's fine."

No, he couldn't go with them, because then she would be feeling uncomfortable again and then she looked weird and-… Oh my god, no, why was she like this? If she wasn't shy, she could talk to him like a normal person, so they could get to know each other. Then he would see she was a nice and funny, and also very creative and then he would ask her out; they could just be like Aaron and Valerie! But no, sadly enough she was this socially awkward and shy person and so there was no chance they would ever date. There was no chance.

"Cool," Dennis stood up, picking up his and his friend's tray and lifting his backpack over his shoulder. "Then we'll see you after school." Right after that, Aaron kissed his girlfriend's cheek before also lifting his backpack over his shoulder and standing up. "See you, girls!"

When they had left, Valerie looked at Nicole with a smirk, "you should do something about your shyness. It isn't normal anymore."

"I was thinking the exact same," she sighed, frowning as she shrugged her shoulders. "But you know, Aaron helped you with it and since I don't have anyone, how am I ever going to get less shy?"

"You could at least try to talk to Dennis," she ran an hand through her naturally red hair, rolling her eyes annoyingly. "He's a very nice guy. Just like Aaron."

"If he likes me, he should do something about it," she stood up, grabbing her bag. "I'm not going to be one to make the first move."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Valerie laughed, grabbing their trays along with her bag. "But it doesn't matter, alright? Don't worry about it. The time will come."

"I'm not worrying about guys and stuff," she smiled while shaking her head, standing up with her bag. "I don't need a boyfriend. I'm fine on my own."

Valerie put away the trays, threw away the things and then they gave each other a hug. "I know you're fine on your own. I just don't want you to feel left out."

"I'm fine," Nicole gave her a wink, beginning to walk away to her class. "You don't have to worry about me. Good luck in class!"

* * *

With having Dennis around, walking the dog in the park was much easier for Nicole than sitting at the same table. Now she could just walk, look around and just hope nobody included her into the conversation, so she didn't have to talk.

Probably they were going to go to her house after this and then it'll be all weird again. She really had to make something up so she didn't have to come. But what, that was the question.

Maybe she could tell them she had to do her homework and study for the test for tomorrow, or she could say her mom is cooking dinner and she had to help… or something like that. It had to be something believable, but since she wasn't really good at lying and didn't want to lie because she would be guilty the second she'd told the lie, it wasn't going to work. It was already bad that she was trying to think of something to leave and just get comfortable at home. Like lying on her bed with her laptop on her lap and just watch tv shows or go through Tumblr. Oh, how badly she wanted to go home right now…

"Snowy," Valerie picked up a branch from the ground, looking at her little dog with a smile. "Catch it, alright, sweetie?" She threw away the branch, causing her dog to run after it.

"Why is her name Snowy, again?" her boyfriend put his arm around her shoulders and snickered softly in her ear. It made her giggle. "It's the most cliché name I've ever heard and not to forget, she isn't even white. She's brown-ish."

"Shut up," she slapped his arm playfully, rolling her eyes. "I just really liked the name. Don't blame me; I just wanted her to feel special."

They both sat down on the bench, making Dennis look up at Nicole with a questioned look. There was only one little space to sit and the gentleman he was, he first asked the girl if she wanted to sit down before he would.

"No, I'm fine," she played with her hair nervously, trying to avoid is his glance. "I'm just going to look around for a little bit. I'll be right back."

"Okay, have fun" the boy sat down, giving her a slight smile as she walked away from them. "What's up with her? She sounds a little down."

"If she says she's fine, she's fine," Valerie answered his question, turning her head to look at him with a wicked smile. Her best friend's crush sounded concerned about her, that was something she had to tell her. She was going to be so happy. "You just have to seem to believe it in some way."

* * *

**_A/N: so, feel free to comment or something. I would really like to hear what you all think about it. Thank you for reading! :D_**


	2. Chapter two

Nicole was walking home, hugging herself to keep herself warm from the cold wind against her bare skin. She was craving for food now, feeling her stomach growl every 5 minutes which she tried to calm down by taking a sip of her water bottle so every now and then. It wasn't working anyway, especially now she was nearby a cafeteria and really wanted to get herself a milkshake. But that wouldn't be helping her feel warmer, so she asked what was best.

Sitting there on her own wasn't her favorite thing to do, but sitting there for a little while and get herself a milkshake because she deserved so made it different. She had been sitting the whole lunch with her crush at the same table, for maybe the hundredth time. It had been a freaking hell; something she wished she didn't have to do again. Which she would have to. Damn guy. Didn't Dennis have any other friends or something? There were a million guys hanging around at school, all kind of like him, and all he did was hang out with Aaron, what was up with that? Stupid guy, making her feel uneasy and whatever every time he was around.

Walking into the cafeteria, Nicole sighed deeply and blushed automatically at how many people there were sitting and hanging out with friends or family. She didn't know anyone of them; no one who could invite her to sit with them.

No, of course not. Nobody knew her, probably didn't even know she existed. She was just there, not anything important but also not unimportant. She was just there, like a chair. Or a lamp.

She made her way to the bar, trying to entertain herself with a song that had been stuck into her head all day while she waited to order. She was moving her head to the beat, tapping her heel to the floor.

"How can I help you?" the boy asked kindly, looking at the computer. She didn't find the boy that handsome, he wasn't really her type, so she ordered a strawberry milkshake without stuttering.

She grabbed her wallet out of her bag, taking out the amount of money and giving it to the boy, after handing her the milkshake. She smiled happily, turned around and walked away to sit somewhere away from the people.

Feeling her phone vibrating, Nicole took her phone out of her jeans pocket and went to look who had texted her. It was Valerie, _'where are you? I have to tell you something!'_

She continued drinking her milkshake as she began to text her back, _'I'm at this café, just drinking my milkshake.'_ She wanted to push the send bottom, but then hesitated for a moment.

Sighing, the blonde looked up thoughtfully, causing her to see a boy looking at her. He had a camera in his hands, filming whatever.

She was a kind of curious, but couldn't make herself keep looking because once he grinned cutely, she blushed and looked down. It even felt like her whole stomach just made a backflip, making her feel a little sick.

Oh my god, why was he looking at her? Maybe he had something on her face-… and oh, why did he smile like that?

Stopping drinking her milkshake, she took a quick glace back at the boy, to now see he was sitting with another boy his age and a very cute boy who looked around the age of 10. He was sitting next to him, trying to get his brother's attention.

Again she looked down, continuing her to type in a text to send to Valerie. _'What is it that you have to tell me?' _She pushed the send bottom, taking a few sips of her delicious milkshake, waiting for her to text back.

She got a text back immediately, saying something that made her so happy she almost forgot about the boy sitting a 5 meters away from her, taking glances at her so every now and then.

She let out a little squeal, rereading the text. _'Dennis was concerned about you when you left, asking what was up with you because you seemed a little down or something.'_

Dennis cared-… or maybe he was just very kind and it was a usual thing for him to do. Like he wanted everyone to be happy, including her. Oh, why were boys so confusing? This was one of the reasons she was also fine alone.

She felt a sad feeling rush through her, making her frown. Maybe Valerie was right after all; she was starting to feel left out, now her best friend a boyfriend.

Putting back her phone into her pocket, she stood up after finishing her milkshake. She threw it away, on her way out and once she was outside, she felt the cold air against her skin again.

After a few minutes walking, she got a little used to it, causing her thoughts to take over again. She didn't even hear a car pulling over, driving slowly next to her on the road.

But when she did, she stopped walking, noticing the guy from just then sitting on the passenger seat, rolling down the window.

"Hey, do you want a ride?" he asked her, before looking in the mirror to check his hair. "It's a little cold outside."

He had a nice voice, causing again to get a weird feeling in her stomach. But she raised an eyebrow, because she ever had gotten asked that question before and she found it weird. Why would she get into a stranger's car? She had learned better to not to.

"No," she started walking again, thinking about why else he would ask her. There had to be another reason than the weather, right? "But thanks, anyway."

The car began driving, following her. "Why not? It's not like we're going to rape you. There's a child in the backseat."

"Oh, so you would've raped me if there wasn't?" she looked at him with her blue eyes, not trusting the whole situation at all. "I'm not getting into that car."

The boy who was driving started to laugh at his friend failing. It was a kind of funny how he tried so hard and the girl just didn't want to listen.

"No, we're not going to rape you if there wasn't," the boy laughed. A little though, because he was the one failing. Not yet. "Just step into the car. We're good guys. Guys who don't want to go to jail."

"Seriously, dude?' the driver shook his head, laughing loudly causing the boy to give him a glare and him to stop driving.

He stepped out of the car, grabbing her hand, looking at her with a small smile, "you looked upset and it's cold outside and-… Come on, I'll feel back if I can't at least try to make you feel better."

And there it was again, the weird feeling in her stomach, the blushing and the avoiding his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, you are safe with me, Jc, my friend Ricardo and my little brother Joe." He opened the car door for her, letting her step in on the passenger side and then closing it. He, on the other hand, stepped in next to his brother.

Buckling up their seatbelts, Ricardo started driving, still sniggering.

"Did it have to be so long to decide if you were going to step in or not?" Joe asked suddenly, making her to turn around to look at him with a smile.

"Yes, and I'm sorry, alright? I'm just really bad at choosing."

"So like, if you could choose between what candy you want to get," he started, laughing a bit. "What candy would you choose?"

Nicole wanted to answer, but hesitated, thinking of what candy. She took another chance to answer, but then again hesitated because she really didn't know. Gummy bears were delicious but she also liked Sour Patch Kids. "You know what," sighing, she shook her head, embarrassed. "If you could choose between any video game in the world, what game would you choose?"

"What would you choose?"

"What is wrong with you?" Nicole gave Ricardo a glare, jokingly though, causing him smirk while keeping his eyes on the road. "You just drive, alright? I don't want to die."

Jc, or however he introduced himself as, Joe Felix, Ricardo and Nicole began to laugh.

* * *

_**A/U: thank you for reading! :D**_


	3. Chapter three

It had been a few days since they had dropped off safely after talking and laughing the whole ride to her house. Nicole didn't have any motivation to do anything school related and so every now and then she would trail of thinking of Justin, or also known as Jc. His nice smile, his brown eyes-… and his whole freaking face. God, that boy was too handsome to even describe.

She just wished she could meet him again; he didn't ask her for her phone number nor knew her last name, so he could look her up on Facebook or Twitter. She also didn't know his last name, nor Ricardo's name or-… she knew nothing. If she did though, she wouldn't have the guts to call him or anything anyway. He had to do something or… this 'thing' they had was just one time thing. Nothing else. Wow, nice thoughts.

Sighing deeply, Nicole pushed her tray away and leaned her head into the palm of her hand. Dennis was sitting in front of her, playing a game on his phone while Aaron and her best friend were doing their daily flirting, touching and whispering in each other's ears.

"Stop it," Valerie giggled, making Aaron chuckle silently. "Hey girl, are you doing alright? You're sighing all dramatically and looking all sad."

"I'm not sad," she shook her head, giving her a small smile. "I'm just thinking about something. It's nothing important or anything to worry about."

"Okay," she returned back a smile. "But make sure to tell me if it's really bothering you, alright? I want you to be happy."

Appreciating her concern, Nicole nodded and continued to look down at her lunch again. She had tried to push it down her throat 10 minutes back, but it didn't work. Now all she wanted was to just lay in bed-… No, who was she kidding. She wanted to see Justin again. Seeing him smile, look into his eyes and hear his voice. He wanted him to be around her.

* * *

Nicole was doing grocery shopping, walking through the isles to look for the baking supplies. She was already done with her homework and wanted to do something, so she could at least attempt to stop thinking about the dark brunette.

Thoughtfully, she looked at the things in the shelves as she walked towards the isle she had to be. She liked muffins, but she also wanted to bake a cake since she didn't do that very often. Only for birthdays or if there was something to celebrate, or whenever she couldn't think of something to do and had to fill her time.

When she wanted to walk into the right isle, she suddenly stopped walking, noticing a very familiar boy standing nearby the shelves of vegetables. Justin was standing there, looking at Ricardo with a questioned look, his mouth moving.

She wasn't able to move, not knowing where to go. If she wanted him to see her or wanted to hide somewhere, so he couldn't. And where did she had to hide anyway? There was no freaking time.

As if she hadn't seen them, Nicole started walking to the right isle… until Ricardo calling her name, causing her to turn around. "Nicole, hey, what are you doing here?"

"Ehm," she giggled nervously, waving awkwardly at the two boys walking up to her. "Hi, ehm… I'm just going to buy baking supplies. I just finished homework, so yeah… I mean, I have to do something with my time."

"True, true," Justin nodded, putting his hands in his pockets and he looked at the small plastic bag with peppers he was holding. "We're buying stuff for the video we're about to film."

"That's awesome," she commented happily. "What's the video about?"

"A hot pepper challenge," Ricardo told her, sniggering while shaking his head. He wasn't ready to eating pepper; he already experienced puking by eating Vegemite and he had this feeling eating hot pepper was going to be even worse. "It's Jc's idea."

"Oh my god," she sighed, staring at them in pity. "Good luck with that, you guys. I really hope it's going to end up well." She made a few hand gestures, smiling, "I've to get my-…"

"Hold on," Justin stopped her, waving his hands in the air. "Wait, ehm-… If you want to come with us, that'd be pretty cool. Like," he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "ehm, we'd like that."

"You'd like that, dude" Ricardo rolling his head, patting his friend's shoulder. "But you could go with us, if you want to. Maybe we even need your help with the video."

"Yeah, of course," she tried to sound confident, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't think my mom minds if I come home a little later, it's on a Friday night. So if you need my help, I'd like to help. All I have to do is get some supplies and… yeah."

The boys followed her to the baking supplies, letting her stare thoughtfully at all the things lying in the shelves. "So, what am I gonna make?"

"Something fun and delicious."

"That's very helpful, Justin," she rolled her eyes sarcastically, giving him a thumps up. "I've never heard something so helpful in my life. Good job, I'm so proud of you."

He laughed, grabbing the muffin receipt before leading her towards the cash register by lying his hand on her upper back. It was just at that moment when her heart skipped a beat, her cheeks heating up. "There you go."

She took her wallet out of her bag and picked out 3 dollars, handing the money to him as she took her phone out of her pocket with her other hand. "I've to text my mom."

"How old are you?"

"What? Me?" she looked up at a curious Ricardo with a smile on her face. "How old do I look?"

The boys looked at one another, making a few weird faces before turning back. "I'm thinking 19, but I'm not sure."

"Yay you!" she smiled big, nodding her head up and down quickly but then threw her hands in the air, confusingly. "How can you know that? Do I look like a 19 year old?"

"We're your stalkers," Justin gave her a playful wink, before saying hi to the woman sitting behind the cash register. Nicole turned back to her phone, texting her mom about hanging out with a few friends she had encountered.


	4. Chapter four

Joe Felix was the first one to greet them when they walked into the house, seeing Justin's family sitting at the dinner table. He waved at Nicole with a smile on his face, "hey, Nicole!"

"Hey, Joe Felix," she replied, returning the smile. "How are you doing?"

She was trying not show them how nervous she was. But it was pretty hard now that she was shaking and she had a weird tingling feeling in her stomach.

"Good," he nodded, throwing the dice on the table. "We're playing a board game. And I'm so going to win this!"

"That's nice!" she said, walking to the people to shake their hands.

His mom was a friendly, young looking woman with long beautiful hair. His stepdad seemed nice, laughing as she shook his hand gently and then there was a sweet girl around 13 years old. She also had beautiful long hair, causing Nicole to want to give them a compliment.

"You two both have such beautiful hair!" she shook the girl's hand, having her thank her and say her name. "I'm Jaylyn."

"Nice to meet you," she took a few steps back to stand next to Ricardo and Justin. "I'm Nicole, hi."

"Hiii." The dark brunette made her laugh nervously by imitating her, exaggerating a little. "So, we're going to make the video. We'll come back later."

"That's fine. Have fun filming and be careful" his mom nodded at him, before rolling the dice and clapping in her hands.

"Will do." Nicole walked after Ricardo, up the stairs with Justin behind her.

Why in the name of God she had agreed to with them, she had no idea. Especially now since she had seen Justin and Ricardo taking bites of 2 different sorts of peppers. At last, after taking the bite of the hottest pepper, hell broke loose.

Justin's eyes were tearing, hyperventilating by the spicy taste in his mouth. Ricardo even had searched on the internet what to do to make it stop.

Nicole was sitting on the bed, not even wanting to look at them. She was concerned and didn't know what to say or what to do. She wanted help, but didn't know how.

Justin suddenly ran out of his room, towards the bathroom, "I can't do it. I need to run my-… I need to run my mouth through a sink." Ricardo took a sip of his water, looking at Nicole with while shaking his head. Then he took the camera, running after his best friend. "Are you fine? Are you okay?"

Hearing the boy mumble a 'no', she wanted to stand up but didn't want to be on camera, so she stayed, taking out her phone to do something. To ignore the hyperventilating and the yelling at each other, wanting to use the sink. "Hurry up, it's hurting!"

After a few minutes they came back, Justin sitting down on the bed next to her, sighing deeply. "Oh my god, I'm never going to do that again."

"Hey, 'you alright?" she touched his back with her small hand, looking at him before turning to Ricardo, who was still drinking from his bottle of water. "How about you?"

"I guess so. Oh my god," Justin grabbed the water out of her hand, taking a sip of it. "I'm never doing that again and trust me, you don't want to do it either. I don't recommented it."

"I won't do it," she put a strand of hair behind her ear, giggling nervously. "I was actually pretty worried and I wanted to help, and it seemed like you guys were about to die."

They began to laugh. "Well, I hope I'm not going to die like that. I want to die peacefully and-…" "No, like…This isn't peacefully at all. This was the worst thing ever."

"Wow, are you alright?"

Trying to stop the yawning by lying her hand on her mouth, Nicole looked up from the pillow she was hugging and nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little tired."

Justin chuckled, turning back to his computer to continue editing the video. "I'll just finish this and then I'll bring you home, okay? It's almost done, hold on."

"It's fine. Take your time." She tried entertained herself by playing with her phone to keep herself awake, because if she really wanted she could fall asleep on this comfortable bed at any second. It was early, around 10 PM, but she wasn't surprised to be tired at this time. She could get tired really fast, especially after a long day at school.  
"You're a freaking nice girl," Ricardo commented suddenly, glancing at her with a thoughtful facial expression. "Do you even realize that?"

Not knowing what to say, she blushed and shrugged her shoulders while looking down, trying to hide her face behind her hair. "Oh my god, don't say that."

"Oh well, and you're really shy," he filled in, shaking his head unbelievably. "That's cool."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Justin straightened his back, leaning his head in the palm of his hand, getting tired of staring at the computer screen. "Shy girls are cute."

"True," Ricardo agreed, nodding his head up and down. Then he turned to Nicole again, who was looking at her phone, letting out another yawn. "What are your hobbies?"

"I enjoy writing a lot," she mumbled, pulling her vest further over her shoulders. "And reading, I like reading. I like to sing and I'd like to learn how to play guitar and piano. Ehm… stuff, depends on my mood actually. Oh, and I like baking."

"So, you like singing, hmm?"

"I'm afraid to sing in front of people," she quickly replied to Justin, giggling nervously. "I've had singing lessons for like 2 years, but yeah… I like to sing when I'm alone."

"That's no fun," he stood up, looking at Ricardo with a questioned look. "Can you upload the video? I'll be right back, I'm just going to walk Nicole home." He extended his hand to Nicole, helping her get off his bed.

"Yeah, I'll upload it," he changed from chair, sitting down in front of the computer before looking at the girl with a smile. "I'll see you next time. It was fun."

"Hmhm, I'll see you around" she hummed, sending him a smile as they both turned around, walking out of Justin's bedroom.

When they came walking into the living room, they noticed his mom and stepdad sitting on the couch, watching TV. "Hey, I'm going to walk her home. I'll be right back."

"Do you have a jacket?" his mom asked her immediately, not wanting her to catch a cold. "I remember I didn't see you coming here with a jacket."

"No, I thought I didn't need it," Nicole shrugged her shoulders awkwardly, causing her to look at her son. "Give her an extra jacket, alright?"

"Ehm, yeah," he sighed, a little embarrassed, leading her to the wardrobe to take out one of his smallest jackets. He gave it to her, before putting on his own jacket, "I'm sorry for my mom."

"It's totally fine," she smiled, shaking her head as she put on the jacket, zipping it up. "I don't mind at all. She's a sweetheart."

They walked out of the house, both walking in the direction where her house was. Justin started talking about his YouTube channel and about the fans he had; getting letters and presents from all over the world and making him smile whenever he feeling a little blue. He had a collaboration channel with friends from another city and every Thursday he'd upload a video, the others uploading video's on another day.

It was nice to hear him talk, especially when it sounded like he actually really loved what he was doing. It was one of his hobbies, probably even his job to make videos. It made her smile down at the ground, hands in the pocket of his jacket she was wearing. "It's amazing."

"Yeah, right," he chuckled, shaking his head. "It's unbelievable to have so many subscribers." He took a pause, wanting to know something about her, "You're at college, right? What do want to do when you graduate?"

"Oh, ehm…" she blushed at the sudden interested. "On Wednesday I'm intern at a daycare; seeing those little children walk and play like there are no worries in the world is amazing." She put a strand of hair behind her ear, "I want to be around children or just to take care of people and make them happy."

He glanced at her, noticing her looking at the ground and he felt himself smiling somehow. That was when he realized she was incredibly beautiful. Her personality was something that stood out the most; the shyness, wanting to make people happy and her creativity. She was a softy, but he expected if she would open up to him and get more comfortable she could definitely be a little firecracker if she wanted to.

Then suddenly she stopped walking , turning to him, pointing at the house awkwardly, "this is my home." She giggled, shaking her head at herself. Could she be more awkward? "Thank you for walking me home. You really didn't have to."

"Yes, I did. I wanted to make sure you got home safe." He smirked, and looked away now that it was his turn to blush, taking out his phone out of his jeans pocket. "Can I have your number?"

"Yeah, of course," he grabbed his phone, saving her number in his contacts. "Just don't call or text me whenever I'm at school or my internship. School is important."

"Alright," he laughed jokingly, pulling her gently into a hug. "But I can't promise you though."


	5. Chapter five

"Just tell me what's on our mind," Valerie said, leaning her body against the lockers, looking at her with her green eyes. "Are you seeing someone?"

"How do you mean?" she asked, opening the locker her locker to get out some books. She didn't want to lie to her best friend, but she also didn't know what to answer. Justin and her weren't dating and she didn't know if he was interested in her.

She could tell she definitely liked him. She had been dreaming about him this weekend and he had texted her Saturday the link of his YouTube channel to watch the video they had made. She ended up watching a lot of his videos and almost forgetting about writing her essay. He was just so funny and nice to look at. She couldn't help it.

"Well, you know," the redhead started, shrugging her shoulders. "Are you dating anyone?"

"Oh," she smiled, blushing shyly. "It's not like we're dating or anything, but I like him and we've been hanging out last Friday. Along with his friend. He asked my number when he walked me home."

"Oh my god, I'm so happy for you!" she hugged her fried, proud at how everything was going. "Does he show any signs that he likes you back?"

"I'm not sure," she sighed dramatically, pouting a little. "When we first met, at the café last week, he was sometimes looking at me and grinning. I don't know. And he even asked me if I wanted a ride…" She told him what had happened, causing her friend to laugh and nod her head in agreement.

"He is like totally interested," they walked through the halls, exiting the school. "What's his name?"

"His nickname is Jc, but I call him by his real name, which is Justin."

"I wanna meet him so badly!" she jumped up and down out of excitement, clapping her hands. "When do I get to meet him?"

"Well, you can go to his YouTube channel at Jc Caylen." Smirking, Nicole stepped into Valerie's car. She did the same, buckling up their seatbelts automatically. "Why do you want to meet him anyway?"

"What do you mean 'you can find him on YouTube'?" her friend ignored the question, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Is he famous?"

"Well, he has fans," she answered, ending the subject. She didn't want to end up talking the whole way to the mall, which she could. If she wanted, she could talk about him all day, probably boring the person she would be talking to. "Moving on, what are we planning on doing at the mall?"

The redhead rolled her eyes annoyingly, giving her a glare as she turned the steering wheel, "are you seriously asking me what we are going to do at the-…" She threw one hand in the air, "Dude, we're going to go shopping!"

"I more meant it like," she giggled hopelessly, shaking her head. "Why are we going to the mall? Is there a reason you want to go shopping? You know shopping is not one of my hobbies."

"There's a sale," she told her happily, totally ignoring the fact her friend didn't like shopping at all and could get frustrated fast if it would last too long. "I want a dress for my date with Aaron and I also want you to get something nice for the next time you see Justin; something that would make him all over you."

"And that would do with clothes," she turned to look out of the window, watching cars drive by while sighing sarcastically. "But whatever, let's do it."

* * *

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket for the second time made her sigh dramatically, wanting to check it but didn't. She was busy with one of the children at the daycare, playing with the Barbie dolls and about an half hour she had to help the employees with making lunch, before the break would begin, which was outside.

If there was time to check her phone, she wouldn't have. It would look unprofessional and they'd probably give her a bad grade if she did so, and of course she wanted to learn as much as she could for her presentation. And she also could already tell them a lot.

Again she felt her phone vibrate, causing her to giggle in annoyance. Who was texting her for God's sake? She had told almost everyone she knew she didn't want to be bothered, especially on a Wednesday. Even Justin knew-… wait, maybe it him texting her constantly. Could it be?

Shaking her head, trying to stop her thinking such things, she concentrated on playing with the Barbie dolls and making the 4 year old happy.

It didn't last long until someone wanted her to read them a story, making her stand up from the ground and had to let herself pull towards the small table. It was more fun than playing with the dolls, although dressing them up was a kind of fun.

"Read another story!" the girl picked out another book from the case, wanting her to read her a story about an elephant. She read it, chuckling a little at some of the sentences but continued for the girl anyway, trying to make herself enjoyable to listen to.

It was 5 PM when she finally exited the daycare, beginning to walk her way home as she took her phone out of her pocket to finally check her text. Like she had been hoping, Justin had texted her 4 times about the same thing, besides the last one. He wanted her to call him whenever she finished the internship for the day and that's when she pushed the call bottom immediately.

"Nicole, finally," was how he answered her, sighing on other end of the line. "Hey, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come for dinner tonight. I've to babysit my brother and sister and-… well, I don't know. I just thought you'd like to come."

"No problem," she shook her head, smiling at hearing his voice. "Of course I'd like to come, the only thing I've to do is to write essay and do a little bit of homework from yesterday." She took a pause, sighing dramatically, "I'm sorry I've do a lot of things and there's just no time-…"

"I've already ordered the pizza," he interrupted her, not wanting her to worry anymore. "The only thing you have to do is come here. You can use the back door."

"I'm on my way," on the other hand she wanted to dance out of excitement, but also didn't. She had to eat in front of him and she wasn't looking forward to that at all. "I'll see you later."

She hung up the phone after hearing him say, "See you later!" putting it back into her pocket, looking at the ground.


	6. Chapter six

Walking through the back door of the house, Nicole took off her jacket and giggled nervously, not understanding why she again agreed to go there, especially now she had to eat dinner. She wanted to turn around to leave, but didn't, deciding to act mature and just do it.

After deeply breathing in and out, she walked out of the kitchen to see the two kids and Justin sitting on the couch, eating pizza. "Hey, guys. Am I late?"

"No, we were just hungry," Jaylyn said, causing her to shake her head with a smile, walking through the living room, towards the hall. "But there's enough pizza for all of us."

"Oh, because I eat a lot?" she asked back jokingly, hanging up her jacket and then sitting down next to Justin, grabbing a piece. She took a bite while trying to make herself get comfortable, not wanting to show them she was nervous.

"No, I actually think the complete opposite," she told the blonde truthfully, looking at her through her glasses as she grabbed another piece. "You get full really fast."

"And I actually think you are right," Nicole pointed out, taking a bite of her pizza. "And I like pizza a lot."

Now that she tried not to think too much, she found herself automatically doing her own thing; eating delicious pizza while watching Spongebob on the TV. She more cared about that the others were enjoying themselves, just like she did at the daycare, caring less about what other people thought about her.

Feeling a warm hand on her knee, and noticing Justin sitting up straight, Nicole looked away from the TV. "Hmm?"

"You want something to drink?"

"Ehm, eah, sure…" she awkwardly answered, as the both stood up to walk to the kitchen. She didn't understand why she did though; being alone with someone she liked wasn't something she liked. It again made het begin to feel nervous, not knowing what to say or do.

Justin opened the refrigerator, grabbing an Arizona iced tea for himself and then looked up, "what do you want to do drink?"

"Water is fine."

"Water is fine," he imitated her in a funny way, causing her to laugh. "Are you sure? Don't you want something else like-… well, we've got Coca Cola, orange juice, vitamin water-…"

"No, I like water." He handed her a bottle of water, her leaning against the counter.

Standing in front of her, Justin sent her a smile, "how was your day?"

"I haven't even finished half of my day yet," she pouted, sighing deeply. "And I also have to take a shower, besides all homework." She took a pause, hopelessly shaking her head, "And I'm tired and I really want to go to bed."

There was a silent between them, making her glance up at his brown eyes, which made them both crack up.

"I'm sorry," apologizing, she put her hand on her full stomach. "I just had to get that out, I think."

"It's totally fine," he leaned his arms on the counter, right next to her. "Were the kids nice for you today?"

"Yeah," Nicole smiled shyly, looking down at the floor. "They wanted me to play with the Barbie dolls and read for them. They all smiled and…" she shook her head in a weird but happy way, "I like that. And how your day?"

"It was nothing special," he chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. "But Ricardo is coming tomorrow; his car is in bad condition. Worst condition ever. So we're going to my grandpa and he works at a car place, so… And then, I don't know what we're gonna do. You can come again if you want to."

"I don't know," not wanting to turn down his invitation, she shrugged her shoulders thoughtfully and then smiled. "I still need to bake those muffins I bought last Friday."

"That's bad," he lifted himself from the counter, flashing his biceps. "Very bad. You know, I honestly think it's a good idea to come tomorrow, so I can make you make those muffins. For me, of course, only for me."

Nicole started at him longer than needed, feeling butterflies go wild in her stomach until she quickly made herself roll her eyes sarcastically, "you're so funny, Justin. I'm laughing so hard right now."

"I was just kidding," he sent her a wink, licking his lips as he turned his head in the direction of the living room. "Let's go back. I bet they're waiting like 'why is it taking so long for them to get drinks?'"

"You should take something for them with you" she grinned, beginning to walk back when he opened the refrigerator to get two extra drinks.

* * *

Looking up from the boring TV to the blonde sitting in front of her laptop, Justin took the last sip of his Arizona, setting it down on the table. She looked busy, yawning every now and then while keeping her eyes on the screen. He wondered when she was done, wanting her to sit next to him to keep him entertained because he didn't want to watch his brother and sister's favorite shows again for another hour; it was pretty boring, especially when a beautiful girl was sitting in the same room as him, distracting him without even trying.

Then she looked up as gasping for air, as if something really important came up into her head, "when do you need to go to bed?"

"Oh my god," quickly checking the time on his phone, Justin stood up, cursing himself at how stupid he was. "I totally forgot. You both need to go to bed right now or I'm screwed when mom comes home."

Nicole giggled, finding his reaction cute, looking at the two. "Why didn't you say anything? You need to wake up early in the tomorrow morning and do your best at school!"

Jaylyn sighed dramatically, standing up from the couch at the same time as he brother, starting to walk away. "I just don't want to go to bed." "Like I want to."

She didn't know what to say, looking at Justin hopelessly when they had left the room, "do I have to go with them?"

"Yeah, you can go," he sniggered jokingly, sitting back down. "I mean you probably have to make it up to them, being the one reminding them to go to bed."

"Right," she stood up, smiling while walking after the two kids, up the stairs. "Do guys want me to read you a story? Or sing you a lullaby?"

"Are you and my brother dating?" Jaylyn lied down in bed, getting comfortable, looking at her with her brown eyes. "You look cute together."

"That is so not the subject I wanted to talk about," Nicole sat down on the chair at her desk, feeling her cheeks heating up. "But no, we're not dating. And thanks, that's sweet of you."

"You're blushing," the girl lifted herself up, smirking. "Do you like him?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" she smiled excitedly, moving her head up and down. "Tell me. I can keep a secret, I won't tell him. I promise."

"Okay," beginning to play with her hair, she giggled. "When he looks at me it feels like my stomach makes a backflip. He makes me nervous and shy, and makes me blush a lot. But you know, I've known him for a few days now but those days have been very nice. It's weird how I can be a little sad to happy just because of him."

Jaylyn squealed, clapping in her hands, almost like Valerie yesterday, "you should tell him!"

"I'm not going to tell him," biting her lip, the blonde extended her pinky. "Pinky promise you won't tell him?"

"Pinky promise," they both hooked their pinkies, making a promise like that. "I won't tell him."


	7. Chapter seven

She had made the muffins the next day at Justin's house, Jaylyn helping her and laughing together at silly things. It was just as fun as hanging out with Valerie, who she hadn't talked too much to these days now that suddenly she was too busy with her boyfriend. She missed her friend a lot.

It had been more than a week now since they had to babysit Jaylyn and Joe Felix and Ricardo and Justin were on their way to pick up Ricky, their friend, at the airport. They'd do meet and greets next week here and in Houston, were his dad lived.

Nicole was going to stay here, trying to keep herself busy with-… She didn't know. Maybe she'd be hanging out with friend. With Valerie maybe, if she had time next to her big family she had to visit now that was holiday.

Nicole didn't have a big family; her grandma died when she was around 10 or 11, her grandpa lived in Tennessee and her aunt and uncle with their two children lived in Vancouver, making it difficult to visit each other once in a while. But she could live with it. She was happy with her mom and 2 years older sister, Sandra, living the together in a small house.

At this very moment she was trying to fill her time with reading a book on the couch. She was waiting; it didn't matter if it was text or a call. Someone just had to contact her, asking her if she wanted to do something because she didn't want to be the one to call them. She didn't want to seem clingy or annoying.

"Why don't you call that Jason or what was his name-…"

"Justin."

"Why don't you call him to ask if he want to do something?"

"He is with his fiend," she looked up at her mother, who was reading the newspaper at the dinner table. "I don't want to bother him."

"Just call him if he wants to do something later in the day," she shook her head at her daughter, smiling. "I'm sure he'd like that."

Sighing, she grabbed her phone and sat up, looking through her contacts. "How do you know that for sure? Maybe he just wants to hang out with his friends, without me."

Knowing she wouldn't get back an answer anyway, she pushed the call button when she had found his name. "Hello?"

"Hey, ehm" she blushed by hearing his voice, giggling nervously. "Nicole here. I'm getting bored with reading and I ehm-…"

"Come on over here," he saved her from the humiliation, grinning at the other end of the line. "Come through the back door. I'm upstairs with Ricky and Ricardo."

"Are you sure?" she asked, not sure if he really wanted her to come or if it was just out of pity. Or maybe this Ricky guy didn't want her to come; giving Justin glares right now.

"Yes, I'd like to see you and I want to talk to you about something," he reacted, sniggering. "You still don't realize you don't have to worry when you're with me, do you?"

"I'll come over," she ignored the question, putting a strand of hair behind her ear as she ended the phone call.

Nicole was greeted by his mom, who was cooking dinner in the kitchen, when she walked through the back door into the house. "Hey, Nicole. How are you?"

"I'm fine," she replied, returning a smile as she took off her jacket. "How are you doing?"

"That's good. Everything is going alright with me," she nodded her head, glancing back at the pan with macaroni. "Are you joining us for dinner?"

"I didn't talk about that with-…"

"Justin is fine with it." She got interrupted, causing her to laugh while walking out of the kitchen to hang up her jacket in the hall. "I'll join for dinner, then. Thank you for letting me."

"You're welcome, darling," his mom waved her hand as if it was nothing. "Justin is upstairs with his friends. Dinner is ready in half an hour."

"Okay, I'll tell them" she left, walking up the stairs towards his room, knocking on the door because she didn't just want to disturb him.

It didn't matter though, they weren't doing anything else than cleaning his oh so messy room. She noticed once Justin quickly opened the door to let her close it behind her, continuing picking up, folding and putting his clothes in his closet.

The mess was terrible, causing her to laugh and shake her head, "Oh my god, how can someone have such mess in their room?"

There was a silent, causing the dark blonde boy sitting in front of the computer to turn his head. He chuckled, pointing at Justin as he stood up, walking up to her, "That's his fault." He extended his hand, letting her shake it, "you must be Nicole. Hi, I'm Ricky."

"Nice to meet you" she gave him a smile, picking up a pair of clothes lying on the floor next to her, smelling it to make sure they were clean before folding them. "Dinner is ready in half an hour, by the way. I'm joining."

"That's cool," Justin took the clothes out of her hands, lying them down on the bed. "Do you know what we're having for dinner?"

"Macaroni, I think," she answered, shrugging her shoulders as she sat down on the bed to continue folding clothes. That was until he smiled at her cuteness, staring. "What?"

"You're so cute."

She looked away, not wanting to see her blush, mouthing an 'oh my god' to herself. It was something that she didn't get to hear quite often and of course it made her feel a little uneasy, not knowing how to reply. And if she knew, she could get herself to say it.

Ricardo began to laugh after seeing her reaction, shaking his head repeatedly, causing her to just continue folding and picking up clothes. Why did he have to say that?

"Aaww, I'm so sorry for making you uncomfortable," Justin grinned, extending a hand for her to take, wanting to lead her out of his room. "Come on, let's talk. I've to talk to you."

"Right," she took his hand, standing up and walking after him. "But what is it?"

He closed the door behind them, her leaning against the wall, glancing at him curiously. He stuck in his hands in his sweatpants pockets, looking down at the floor, "ehm, well, you know we're going to my dad for a few weeks-…"

"Right, that's fun!"

He laughed, looking down at the ground nervously, "I just wanted to make sure you know and ehm, yeah… I'm coming back on December 25, I think. And ehm-…"

"And that's it?"  
"No," he sighed deeply, cursing himself at why he was no nervous all of the sudden. "I wanted to ask you what you'd like to come to my house when I get back. I'd like to see you."

"That's fine," she smiled, shrugging her shoulders since it was nothing. She didn't understand why he would bring her here for just that. Maybe there was something behind it, but she didn't know if she wanted to know that yet, so she didn't ask. "If you want me to. Yeah."

"But not just as friends-…"

"Oh, god," there weren't just butterflies flying around in her stomach, no, it was almost like they were exploding, causing her to put her hand on it. Again she looked away, sighing deeply. "And do I want to know why?"

"I don't know if you do," he frowned, not knowing if she was positive or thinking negative about it. "I just really like you and I want to get to know you better. You're beautiful, from inside and out. My family likes you, no idea how you've done that so quickly. And… well, I don't know. I just like you."

"That's…" Trying to get herself to look at him while feeling her cheeks heating up, she shrugged her shoulders and smiled nervously, "something else."

"Would you still like to come?"

All thoughts were running through her head, making it difficult for her to give him an answer. She still didn't understand, after the explanation, why he liked her. She wasn't anyone special; she was just herself doing her own thing. She knew she was true to people, and maybe that was one of the reasons people liked her, but he was the first one to let her know he liked her in a different way and she found it a kind of scary.

"I'll be waiting for you when you get back."


	8. Chapter eight

"The macaroni is almost as delicious as my mom's," Nicole complimented Justin's mom who was sitting in front of her, nodding her head in approval as she took a bite. "And that means something, you know. I find her cooking skills incredible."

"Thank you," his mom gave her a thankful smile, taking a sip of her glass of water. It looked like she wanted to ask something, but also didn't. "So, you live with your mom?"

"Ehm, yeah," she answered awkwardly, shrugging her shoulders. "My older sister, Sandra, is also living with us. She's 21." She looked down at her food, blushing at the attention she got, "She has a cat named Wolfie, and we've got our dog, Nala."

"Really?" Justin grinned, trying to keep the conversation going. "We've got three dogs. It seems like you've never really noticed them around."

"Honestly, no, I didn't." She laughed, taking a bite of her food. "Where are they even? Seriously, now you make it seem like they don't like me"

They all laughed, some of them pushing away their plates since they were full.

"And how about your… ehm, dad?"

"Ehm, I don't really want to talk about it," she told his mom, wanting to keep it to herself, not wanting them to feel pity for her. After a while she had accepted she didn't have seen her dad since the age of 6. She didn't like him, not wanting to do anything for her mom when she asked. Because of that, she had learned to do things herself; if her mom could do it, she could. "If you don't mind."

"I can be your little sister!" Jaylyn laughed, nodding her head up and down. "And I really hope we can hang out when my bobo is in Houston."

"Of course we will hang out," she also pushed away her plate, smiling big. "Then we could watch a lot of movies, hang out at the park and bake lots of muffins."

"Not only muffins," she pulled a thoughtful face, pointing at her with her finger. "I also want to make brownies or maybe a chocolate cake."

"Oh my god," she nodded her head excitedly, agreeing with her. "I really want to make a chocolate cake for my birthday. I love chocolate."

"Me too!" Jaylyn clapped in her hands, eyes growing wide. "When is your birthday?"

"My birthday is on February the second," she replied, giggling as she looked down. "But oh my god, there's too much attention. It makes me so uncomfortable."

The three boys were the first to chuckle, imitation her in her joking way. One looked funnier than the other, making them all laugh. "I don't even sound like that!"

Justin's mom stood up, collecting all the plates to bring them to the kitchen. Still giggling, Nicole also stood up to collect the other dishes, wanting to walk after her. But his stepdad was her first, taking the dishes out of her hand, causing her to sit back down.

"Are you sleeping over?"

She turned to Jaylyn, pointing at herself as she smiled. "Me? No, I don't think that's a good idea-…"

"Why not?" the girl said, pouting. "There's enough place to sleep in my room-…"

"Or in my bed."

"Oh my god!" Joe Felix rolled his eyes overdramatically, standing up from the chair, walking to the living room to watch TV. Jaylyn didn't follow, but saved her from the weird subject anyway, "you don't have to now. We could do a sleepover another time."

"No, I guess that's fine-…"

"Then you could sleep in his bed without him."

"Now I'm actually pretty hurt," Justin stood up with the others, walking away from the dinner table while grinning. "But that's fine, I'm a big boy. I don't need you."

The girls laughed at his silliness, shaking their heads repeatedly.

* * *

She had gone home early that night, before dark so Justin didn't have to walk her, because she was tired and wanted to lay in bed. Valerie finally had time for her to do something the next day, causing them both to give each other weird makeovers and film it with a camera. It was a kind of sad her mom didn't want them to put it on YouTube, which they both wanted, but besides that they were laughing most of the time.

Connor, another friend of the boys, was flying over to San Antonio on a Tuesday, and apparently they wanted her to come over to meet him. She was too impatient and nervous to wait in the morning to meet somebody new so she tried to keep herself busy with reading. It didn't help though, book lying in her shaking hands.

It went well at his house, Connor was a nice guy and she had actually a lot of fun talking to him, but she still blushed out of nervousness. Talking to boys was never going to one of her best skills, she already had excepted that.

Now Nicole was lying on the matrass next to Jaylyn's bed, who was sleeping. It was their mother's idea to let her sleep here, since they'd be leaving early in the morning and Justin wanted her to say goodbye to him.

She couldn't sleep, asking herself if this all was real; this beautiful and nice boy liking her back, feeling comfortable with his family and having a few new friends. Usually she would be sitting at home, doing nothing special and now she would just go here and be social. It was something else, but she found herself getting used to it in some way.

She heard a loud laughs coming from Justin's room, causing her to sigh and carefully stand up from matrass, not wanting to wake up Jaylyn. The blonde walked towards his door, gently opening it without knocking, eyes burning by the bright light.

"Nicole, hey," Justin looked up from his computer, smiling at her wearing his shirt that was falling just until half of her butt, showing off her black panties. It looked sexy, but her looking so exhausted made it look cute. "I thought you were asleep."

"No, I couldn't sleep," she yawned, rubbing her eyes, almost making her fall. "What time is it?"

"1 AM," Ricky answered, when at the same time Connor stood up to lead to Justin's bed. "You go lay there, before you really fall. We don't want that of course."

She lied down, automatically closing his eyes and giggled, "I'm sorry for interrupting for whatever you were doing. I didn't want to be alone."

Connor pulled the blankets over her body to her shoulders, "it's fine. We weren't doing anything special than talking."

"Okay," she hugged the soft pillow, feeling herself beginning to fall asleep. "I really have to go back, though. I can't sleep here."

"I didn't hear you," Justin teased her jokingly, sniggering at what she said because he knew she wouldn't be standing up at any second. She was too tired. "What?"

"Hmm," and right then, at that moment, she fell asleep, dreaming of nice things.


	9. Chapter nine

Slowly waking up, memories came flooding into her mind. She remembered she couldn't sleep going to Justin's bedroom where the light was shining bright. Almost falling out of tiredness and Connor leading her to the bed. And then there's was nothing, her mind was a complete blank.

Quickly she opened her eyes, sitting up straight by seeing she was in another room. Nobody was lying next to her, making her sigh in relief. Then she saw Ricky and Connor lying on a matrass on the floor. Well, it was better than having them lying in the bed.

But where was Justin?

She stood up, trying not to wake up the boys, and walked out of the room, towards Jaylyn's. Maybe he went to sleep on the matrass she was supposed to be sleeping. But when she opened the door, the only thing she saw was a girl lying on the bed and no Justin.

Sighing, the blonde closed the door to walk down the stairs, continuing her search. It didn't last long though, because when she walked into the kitchen, she saw Justin standing there, his hands rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Hey," Nicole softly touched his upper back with her small hand, wanting him to knowif he wanted to talk she was there for him, of course it didn't work that way. It probably had something to do with leaving his family for two weeks, she guessed, because she would be feeling the same if she was standing in his shoes, but she kept herself quiet. "You slept well?"

He sighed, looking up at her beautiful eyes, nodding his head. "It may sound a little bit weird, but I'm going to miss everything here so much. My mom, my sister and my brother. This house, my bed…" He smiled a little, "and I think I'm going to miss you too."

"Aww," she smiled, beginning to draw figures on his back. "It doesn't sound weird at all. They're going to miss you back, thinking where all the mess is-…"

"I'm really not that messy-…" He laughed, making her smile but ignore it.

"And I'll be missing you too, but I know you're going to have fun with your friends and fans, and... I don't know. I mean, that's a good thing."

He said nothing, staring at her and feeling her fingers lightly caressing his back.

He knew there was going to be big chance that his girl was going to be something special to him, something that'll mean a lot to him and couldn't just forget. She was so sweet, caring and beautiful. He had this weird feeling like he could tell her everything she could be the girl he had waited for to do cute romantic shit with he had planned all in his head.

"I like to talk to you. It seems like you always know something right to say."

"Not always," she smiled shyly. "But thanks anyway."

"Hmhm," Justin hummed, keeping the smile on his face. "I've to take a shower."

"Then take shower," she ran a hand through her mess hair, but not feeling the need to brush it just yet. Maybe it was because this handsome boy was standing in front of them and this conversation was pretty personal, if you asked her. "I've to put on a pants… and another shirt, but this one…" She smelled his shirt, giggling quietly. "Smells pretty good, by the way."

Sniggering, he gave her a wink, "my shirt looks very good on you. And a pants isn't needed; you got the body for it."

"Shut up," she smiled, shaking her head as she took a few steps back. "Let's go upstairs."

"To make out?"

"No," she turned around, still smiling as she walked out of the kitchen, towards the stairs. "We're not going to make out."

"I'll be right there, beautiful."

"Okay," she walked up the stairs, blushing at the pet name. "Take your time."

Maybe Justin could be wrong, though. Most of his fans weren't the nicest, hating when it came to girlfriends and what not. She needed to be strong enough to handle them and be okay with him traveling a lot and knowing he didn't always have time for her because he busy filming and editing videos. Nicole looked a little too sweet.

* * *

Saying goodbye to the boys was easier than to Justin, first watching him hug Jaylyn and Joe Felix at the same time and then give his mom a kiss on her cheek, saying she didn't have to worry. Then it was her turn to hug him, feeling his arms around her waist as she lied her arms around his neck, whispering in her ear. "I'll contact you so much as I can, okay?"

"No, you make sure you have fun," she blushed, shaking her head unbelievably. "That's more important. You're with your family, friends and fans."

The dark brunette let go, giving her a kiss on her forehead with a nervous smile, "you're too nice, you should stop that. You're important."

"Go," she smiled, taking a step back to stand next to Jaylyn who took her hand. "And be careful."

The boy nodded, gave his mom one last hug and then stepped into the car. Connor and Ricky were already sitting in the back, Ricardo on the drivers seat, giving the family and Nicole a wave.

It was weird having her eyes fill with tears, squeezing Jaylyn's hand softly for support, but she didn't like saying goodbye. He would come back, she knew, but that didn't make her less sad or worried if everything was going to be alright.

Waving while smiling, the car drove away, causing the 13 year old girl to look up at her, "are you staying here for lunch or are you leaving?"

"I don't know," her stomach hurt, but she tried to ignore it. "If you want me to stay I can stay for a little bit. I'm not sure if-…"

"It's okay to be upset, darling," Justin's mom turned to look at the blonde, giving her a slight smile to show her she could cry. "I'm used to him leaving for 2 weeks, sometimes even more than 2 weeks, but sometimes I'm still upset. If you want to cry, you can cry."

Nicole didn't know what to say or what to think, shrugging her shoulders and smiling in embarrassment, "I've just met him. It's weird, right? I care about him."

"It's not weird," his mom shook her head, smiling brightly. It was nice to hear this young girl cared about him, wanting him to be safe but also have fun. "You two just clicked right away. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

She nodded slowly, letting it get into her head. "Thank you. That's really nice of you to say."

Before his mom could reply, Jaylyn tugged on her hand, leading her inside. "What do you want to do? We can listen to music or we could play a board game, or maybe we could watch a movie?"


	10. Chapter ten

The boys had just come back from the meet and greet in Houston, exhaustion taking over as they sat down on the couches in the living room. It was hard getting used to seeing they had so many fans, supporting them in what they were doing and wanting to get a picture with them, but it didn't matter. They loved every second of it, getting so much attention.

"Have you called Nicole already?"

Looking at Connor, Justin shrugged her shoulders, "I texted her when we got here a few days ago. The only thing I got back was a simple 'okay' and a smiley face."

Ricardo couldn't hold back a laugh, hiding his mouth behind his hand. "I'm so sorry, man. That's a real bummer."

"Maybe she was hanging out with your sister," Ricky tried guessing to cheer him up, pulling a weird face. "She didn't have time or didn't know what to say back. Girls with their worries and insecurities, you know how that shit goes."

"Yeah," Justin rolled his eyes, like it wasn't anything important. "Whatever. She has a life, probably has better things to do-…"

"Like trying to distract your sister from missing you by doing fun things," Connor ran a hand through his hair, noticing his friend was a little disappointed. "Your sister looked a kind of sad yesterday morning. Come on, it's not like Nicole is that selfish to leave her hanging."

Sitting up, Justin looked thoughtfully at his hands, nodding his head up and down slowly, "you could be right. I'll text her later today, maybe tomorrow; I'm exhausted." He stretched his arms, yawning.

The blonde had been at Valerie's house yesterday, volunteering her shoulder for her friend to cry on now that she had caught her boyfriend cheating on a girl from school. She couldn't even say describe what she had seen, how she felt or think about when and how she was going to break up with him.

Used tissues angrily being thrown on the floor, sobs coming from Valerie's mouth, causing Nicole's stomach to hurt. It made her feel upset and scared; she wanted to make sure Aaron knew how her best friend felt. He needed to regret whatever he had done.

It was stupid she had trusted him with her. Maybe if she was a little less naïve, she could've prevent her from her getting so hurt, not being able to even talk. But what if she couldn't, what then would've happened? Maybe her friend would've told her she was just jealous and tell her to back off, or something like that. And she also didn't want that to happen.

She still wasn't fully over it, feeling upset when she walked towards Justin's house to hang out with Jaylyn. They were going to listen to the new Justin Bieber album, _Under the mistletoe, _although Nicole wasn't a fan of him. It didn't matter, she just wanted to try to distract herself from her thoughts about Valerie and Aaron.

She walked into the kitchen through the back door, greeting the people who were sitting in the living room, watching TV. Justin's mom was the first to notice something was wrong with her, but didn't want to ask her directly. "Hey darling, how are you?"

"Yesterday wasn't a very nice day," Nicole replied, putting her hands in her hoodie pockets as she sat down next to her on the couch. "Still a little upset, but I'll get through it."

"If you want to talk about, I'm right here," she lied her hand on the girl's shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. "And if you want to call Justin, you can use the house phone-…"

She stopped talking when she saw tears rolling down Nicole's face, causing her to stand up from the couch and tell her they could talk in the kitchen. She stood up, walking after the young woman to lean her body against the counter. "I'm so sorry for crying-…"

"No, you don't have to be sorry," she grabbed some tissues, handing them to her. "Just tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help you."

Everything just left her mouth, sighing hopelessly so every now and then while doing some hand gestures. "… and I'm so scared that if I'm going to date someone, that something like that also is going to happen. I've always said I'm fine alone, maybe this is one of the reasons I want to be. I don't want get hurt by some boy."

"If you're talking about Justin," she said, wiping away some of the tears with an extra tissue. "You don't have to worry about that. He can be really selfless, putting others first and wanting them to be happy." She shook her head with pity, "and maybe it didn't seem like what you both think the boy did. Maybe it was the girl's fault, flirting or doing other things with him."

"Well, maybe," Nicole shrugged her shoulders, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just always thought that he was a nice guy and I trusted him with her. I was happy for her, but now-…"

"Please, don't blame it on yourself," she took a pause, sighing. "Blaming yourself is making you feel worse than you already are. Promise me you won't blame yourself."

Looking at her dark brown eyes, she nodded her head up and down, "I'll try."

* * *

It was the day Justin was going to come back in San Antonio, and she had woken up early this morning to go his house. Jaylyn, Joe Felix and her had agreed to make a cake together and their mother wanted to make a video of it.

The kids were messy, decorating the cake with their hands and touching each other's faces to tease each other. And before she could think she could get the cake done safely, Joe Felix found it funny to do the same with her, causing chocolate to dirty her face.

"Oh, you just didn't do that!" the girl looked at him in shock but smiled anyway, seeing him and Jaylyn laugh loudly. Their stepdad and mom sniggering behind the camera, apparently they also found it very enjoyable. "How could you? I thought we were friends!"

Joe Felix grabbed a decoration star, placing it on the side of the cake and looked up with a big smile on his face, "I just had to."

"Oh, that's very nice of you," she commented sarcastically, trying to clean her face but began to laugh when she couldn't. "Oh well, never mind. Thank you very much, Joey."

"You're welcome!"

At that moment the front door got opened by Justin and Ricardo, dropping their luggage on the floor and looking at the sight of the people at the dinner table. "What are you all doing?"

"Surprise!" Nicole threw her hands in air, giggling happily. "We made you a cake-…"

"Nooo, wait," Jaylyn quickly said, placing the last cloud on the top of the cake. She turned around in her chair, looking at them with a smile. "Now the cake is done!"

"Oh my god," Justin shook his head, walking up to Nicole and grabbing a paper towel from the table to clean her face. "Look at you being all dirty."

"Oh well, you're welcome for the cake," she rolled her eyes jokingly, turning her head. "It's nice to see you too. You're looking very handsome today."

He started to laugh, pulling her into a big hug after kissing her on the cheek, "the cake looks delicious. Thank you."


	11. Chapter eleven

While eating the cake, Justin and Ricardo told them about how the meet and greets went and what had done when they were gone. Long story short, they have had a lot of fun and would want do it all over again. Every meet and greet was different, making the boy have a lot of fun memories.

The dogs were walking underneath the table, hoping something would fall on the floor for them to eat. Sometimes she felt one of the dogs' tail touch her leg, tickling.

"Nicole and I went hanging out a lot when you were gone," Jaylyn laughed, taking a bite of her piece of cake. "Like a few days ago we watched 'The little mermaid'."

"Was it her choice to watch it?"

"Stop smirking," Nicole defended herself, looking at Justin with her blue eyes. "It was her choice to watch it. And don't say you don't like Disney movies or I'll make you watch them all."

He sniggered, leaning his head in the palm of his hands, "How are you gonna do that?"

"Well…" she thought for a second, looking away from him as she bit her lip. "I-I… well, I don't know."

They all began to laugh, Ricardo being the one to stand up from his chair. "However, I think I'm going to leave to see my family. The cake was delicious and ehm, yeah, merry Christmas."  
"I'm just glad you both got home safe," the girl smiled up at the boy, sending him a wink. "And had a lot of fun without me, of course. I get that a lot."

He laughed, walking towards the front door to open it. "I'll see you guys next time."

"Merry Christmas!" they called after him before he closed the door behind him. Then they all continued eating their cake, Justin's mother asking her something. "Who are you spending your Christmas with?"

"Oh, ehm," she shrugged her shoulders, swallowing. "Just with my mom and sister. We're going eat some food and then watch a movie together."

In some way she didn't like talking family around Christmas; it made her feel like an outsider. The small family she had lived somewhere far away in another city and she couldn't see them around the holidays or birthdays. Other people she knew just could see their family a lot, doing weird dance moves with their cousins or their grandparents could see their grandchildren grow up. It was something she couldn't experience-…

"Nicole?"

"Hmm?" she looked up at the woman, before noticing Justin standing by the stairs with his hands in his pockets. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm coming."

Quickly she stood up from the chair, walking up the stairs with the dark brunette as she felt her cheeks heating up in humiliation. How could she be so stupid to be so deep into her thoughts, not even hearing someone was talking to her?

"Are you alright?" Justin opened his bedroom door, letting her walk inside before he closed the door behind them. "It's weird how you seem so happy, then you trail off and frown-…"

"I wasn't frowning," she denied, sitting down on the bed as she shook her head. "I was thinking about-…" She stopped herself, not wanting to lie. "No, I wasn't thinking about happy things and maybe I was frowning. But-…"

"Then what is wrong?" he dropped himself on the chair, glancing at the beauty. "You can talk to me about it; I won't laugh at you or tell anybody-…"

"What am I supposed to tell you?" tears filled her eyes, doing weird hand gestures. "It's nothing important. I just feel a little insecure or sad sometimes. People don't have to know why I am feeling like that. They won't get it anyway."

"How could you say that when I don't even know why you're feeling like that?" the boy rolled his chair closer to her, taking her hand to caress the back with his thumb. "You could've called me when you were hurt about the whole Valerie and Aaron thing. I could be the one to tell you everything was going to be alright and that you didn't have to be scared-…"

"Is it weird?"

"No," he told her directly, causing her to look up. "The thing is scary. But believe me when I say I don't want to hurt anyone, especially when I care about them. Come on, how could I hurt someone like you?"

"How do you mean?"

"You really don't realize, do you?" he wanted to keep looking into her eyes, but couldn't. There he was, his cheeks heating up at the second he turned his head. "You're probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met. And just look at yourself, you're gorgeous. Those eyes-…"

"Stop it, I don't want to hear it," she interrupted him, giggling when she lied her hands on her ears before her face would turn as red as a tomato. "You got me, I'm smiling."

"Good," he turned his chair, grinning at his computer screen. "It's stupid of me to say, but I want you to talk more to people. It's important to talk about your problems. You can't keep them inside forever." He faked a cough, awkwardly moving on with another subject, "so, do you want to edit the video and upload it on YouTube or what do you want do with it?"

* * *

They had listened to music while editing the video, Justin begging her to sing along. She kept saying no, laughing at him as he pulled weird faces. Her singing was going to fail if she didn't feel fully comfortable around him and that'd probably last a few weeks. But it was fine, Justin was a sweet boy and patient with her, forcing her into anything wasn't going to help anyway.

Now they making their way to her house, talking about new year's eve and what they wished they could to next year. Justin really wanted to go camping sometime with friends, causing her fake a cry and hide her face with her hands. "Including you, of course."

"Well, that's very sweet of you," from afar she could see her mom taking the garbage outside, making Justin show her by pointing at her with a finger. "That's my mom. She's a nice person."

He began to laugh, shaking his head repeatedly, "_She's a nice person_".

"Don't laugh," she defended herself, laughing along. "How else do I have to describe her? She isn't a mean person or anything, so that's definitely not what I'm going to say."

"No, it's fine," he licked his lips, trying to stop laughing. "I'd like to meet her, if you don't mind. I mean, if you don't want me to, I can turn around right now-…"

"I'd like you to meet her," she linked her arm with his, glancing at him happily. "My mom is one of the strongest and nicest people you'll ever meet. I always tell myself that if she can do something, I also can do it. She's basically my role model."

"You both got a good relationship, I see," he turned his head, smiling. "I like that."

"Hmm," she hummed, looking down at her feet as she blushed. "Well, my sister and my mom are the closest family I've got. They all live far away."

"My family likes you," he mentioned to make sure she stayed happy. "If you need someone to fall back on, they'll be there for you. But I think you've already noticed that with my mom."

Nicole nodded her head, smiling slightly. "Thank you."


	12. Chapter twelve

Nicole had to change quickly, after she got a text from Justin asking her to come over to his house. She had been scrolling though Tumblr to get inspired, lying on her bed in her pajamas. She wanted to write a one shot, but it seemed like her mind was a complete blank.

Automatically putting her notebook into her bad she walked downstairs her to tell her sister she was going to Justin's.

"Cool," she replied back, keeping her eyes on the laptop. "See you later."

"Bye," she walked out, making her way to his house.

Meeting up with him didn't make her so nervous anymore, especially at his house. His family made her feel welcomed and she could be herself around them. Sometimes she would question herself if it would be awkward if she ever would invite him over to her house, since it was always so quiet. She found it nice, but it was so different than at his house.

Greeting Justin's family when she came walked through the back door, Nicole walked up the stairs to his room. She knocked on the door, opening it to see Ricardo sitting on the bed and the dark brunette was sitting on the chair.

He didn't look as his normal self; His face seemed pale and once he said "hi" she noticed what was wrong. He had a cold, sniffling almost every second and blowing his nose in a tissue.

"Hey, are you feeling alright?"

"Does it look that bad?"

"Maybe" she gave a pity smile, dropping her bag on the floor and wanted to sit down on the bed. Justin was her first, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her into a hug. "How's your Christmas? Have you gotten any presents?"

"I didn't know what I wanted, so my mom got me money," she shook her head, sighing deeply as she played with his hair. "It's not like I need anything."

"You sure about that?" he grabbed a box that was lying on his desk, handing it to her. "Surprise!"

"Aww," she looked at it, as she sat down on the bed. "You really didn't have to. And oh my god, I didn't get you anything." She took a pause, trying to think of something. "Maybe-…"

"Stop," he shook his head, laughing along with Ricardo. "You don't have to give me or make me anything. You already made me a cake with Jaylyn and Joey. I got this for free, because it's from my own merchandise. Just open it."

Hopelessly sighing at him, but curiously looking at what it might be, Nicole opened the present slowly. It revealed a shirt, reading 'Mrs Caylen', making her smile. "This is so cute!"

Justin sniggered, and it sounded very adorable since he was sick, "I didn't know your size, but I got you a medium. I thought maybe you'd like it."

"I do like it," she nodded her head, not being able to stop smiling. "Thank you so much!"

He nodded, grabbing the second present wrapped in the same Christmas paper like hers. "I'm so excited for this because I know you're going to like it." He was looking at his best friend, handing him his present.

"Thanks, man."

Nicole looked away shyly once Justin took over the camera from Ricardo, sniffling as he filmed him opening his present. She really had to get used to them filming at some time, but she had no idea how she was going to.

A few hours later they were still sitting in the room, all doing their own thing. Justin was looking through YouTube, reading the comments from his subscribers on his last video while Ricardo was busy with his phone, probably texting.

Nicole still didn't have any inspiration, staring at the blank page from her notebook that was lying on the her lap. Sometimes she thought she knew how to start, but once she wanted to write it down, she realized she didn't and continued thinking of something new.

That had happened for the fourth time now, making her actually feel frustrated. Usually it wasn't so hard. She could write a one shot in less than half an hour, but now… Nothing.

"Is something wrong?'

The girl looked up at Ricardo, confused at his sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he shrugged his shoulders, nodding his head to her notebook. "I don't know what you're trying to do but whatever it is, it isn't working."

She didn't reply, glancing at Justin who turned around in his chair to see what was going on. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow in a cute way. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, I don't think you can," she shook her head, playing with the pen in her hand. "But thank you anyway."

Ricardo laughed, standing up from the bed, "well, I think I'm gonna go. I'll see you guys later."

"What?" she threw her hands in the air, faking a cry. "Why are you leaving me all alone this world? Nobody is there to protect me from the evil."

"You got Jc," he didn't turn to look at her, continuing his way to the bedroom door. "He'll protect you."

"But look at him," doing some weird hand gestures in Justin's direction, she shook her head dramatically. "He doesn't look like he's strong enough to protect me!"  
Of course she was joking, finding his arm muscles extremely and hot and she couldn't wait to see him shirtless. Or maybe working out. But it wasn't like she was going to tell him.

"I'll see you later." Ricardo sniggered, walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"So," the dark brunette began questionably, moving in his chair. "Are you ticklish?"

And that made her want to stand up quickly to run away, but unfortunately she was too late. He grabbed her by her waist, lied her down on the bed and started moving his fingers along her sides, tickling her. "Say I'm the strongest and manliest person in the whole universe!"

"You are the strongest and manliest person in the whole universe!" she got herself to squeal, almost hard to understand since was laughing so hard. "Stop, please stop!"

He stopped, grinning from ear to ear at her. "Am I strong enough to protect you?"

She blushed, but couldn't find a way to hide it. "Yes, you are strong enough to protect me. You can beat anything or anyone."

"Okay," his smile disappeared slowly, leaning in to kiss her. Then he realized something, causing him to sit on the bed normally.

Right, he was sick. If he would kiss her, there was a big chance she also was going to catch a cold. He didn't want that. "So, how about you're going to write me a story?"

A/N: Does anyone like it so far? :)


	13. Chapter thirteen

Although she finally could see Valerie every day and liked learning if the subject was interesting, but being social to people she didn't like and waking up early in the morning just to go to school wasn't her thing… no, thanks.

Also, Justin couldn't text her whenever he was bored and wanted to hang out or saw or read something funny on the internet and wanted to show her. She didn't want him to text her when she was in class, because she didn't want to get distracted.

But being with Valerie made everything a little better, besides that she still was upset and angry at Aaron and couldn't even talk to him.

"What do you want do after school?" the redhead asked as she sat down at a table in the cafeteria. "Or are you going to be at Justin's?"

"He hasn't texted me yet," she shrugged her shoulders, placing her bag on the chair she wanted to sit on. First she had to use the bathroom. "But I told him not to text me when I was at school. If he does after school though, and I'm at yours, too bad for him."

"Okay," she smiled slightly, glad she didn't tell her a fully no. "Thanks."

"What do guys always say about girls and-…" the blonde stopped herself, nodding her head. "They say bros before hoes."

"Girls say chicks before…" she whispered the last part, giggling. "dicks."

They laughed, Nicole doing hand gestures in the direction of the girl's bathroom. "I have to go. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She walked away, hoping Aaron wouldn't take his chance to sit with her friend alone to talk in the minutes she wasn't there. If she still was there, she would've told him to back off. She didn't want to cry again, she had done that too much already.

Something else happened though. Because when she wanted to walk through the door leading to the girls bathroom, Dennis yelled her name, causing her stop what she was doing. "Nicole, hold on. Wait. I want to talk to you."

"I give you 30 seconds," she began counting in her head, ignoring his glance and almost not hearing whatever he was saying.

"…All I hope is that we could stay in contact, you know, as friends," he was at the end of his dramatic rambles. "Or maybe more than friends. We could go on a date-…"

"No," she blushed, because she felt flattered, but what she really wanted was to be with Justin right now. Dennis was too late to apologize for Aaron's stupid action, to say he liked her or let alone ask her out on a date. Justin was there for her and she liked him a lot. "Are you done?"

When he didn't reply, she walked into the bathroom, leaving him standing there.

* * *

Apparently Dennis was a gentleman enough not to try to talk to her again at school since Monday. She was glad but still felt really uncomfortable with the fact that someone liked her other than Justin.

He'd be staring at her from afar or send her a small and nervous smile whenever she accidently looked at him, which had happened a few times already.

Maybe she didn't have to take it too seriously and just focus on Justin and the thing going on between them. The still hadn't gone on a date, which would probably happen eventually… if he really liked her. But there was a big chance he still did, because she had this feeling every time he turned to look at her this day.

It was Wednesday, his stepdad and mom were out for dinner and Jaylyn, Joe Felix, Eva Grace, which was his little sister from Houston and was visiting him for her birthday, were in bed, making them the only two sitting in the living room. Besides the dogs of course, who were sleeping on their pillows.

"Do you know how to ride a skateboard?" Justin suddenly asked her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear when she looked away from the TV. The question surprised her a little bit, she almost thought that he wanted to teach her how to.

"No, I don't," she giggled awkwardly, biting her lip. "I'm probably pretty bad at it anyway. Come on, me on a skateboard? I'll get bruises, maybe I'll even die."

He began to laugh, shaking his head at what she said. "Maybe I can teach you. I'm a really good teacher and I promise I won't let you fall. Or die."

"Right now?" her mouth dropped open, blinking her eyes unbelievably. "It's not that I don't want to, but it's dark-…"

He grabbed her hand, pulling her from the couch and leading her to the hall. He thought that maybe it'll be really romantic if he would teach her, her holding him tightly, not wanting to fall. And maybe she would let out nervous giggles, yelling at him she was going to fall and he had to catch her.

They walked out of the house together to the road, where Justin put down his skateboard and let her step on it. Apparently she couldn't help herself but squeal as he laid his hands on her hips, pushing her slowly and carefully forward. "See, it's not that bad."

"Oh my god," she snapped at him so quiet as possible. It was still night and children were sleeping at this time. "I'm just practically doing nothing and you're pushing me. And you're saying that it's not that bad?" She shook her head, giving him a glare, "do you even realize that-…"

Chuckling he pushed her harder, letting go of her, which made her squeeze her eyes shut as she tried to keep her balance. After a few seconds the board stopped, letting her open her eyes and turn to Justin, "I survived!"

* * *

"I'm surprised I didn't die," Nicole let the dark brunette know, yawning as she walked into the living room, where she sat down on the couch. "Which I could, you know."

"Hmhm," he sat down next to her, pulling her closer, causing her to wrap her arms around his torso and lie her head down on his chest. "You're exaggerating."

"I know," she giggled, nodding her head. "Besides the scariness, it was really fun. You should've filmed it, me embarrassing myself."

He kissed her crown, stroking her long hair and smiled, "maybe I should've, so any guy could be jealous of me of teaching you how to skateboard-…"

"Shut up," hiding blushing cheeks into his shirt, giggling. "Nobody is going to be jealous of you for something like that-…" The blonde stopped herself, sitting up quickly by the memory of Monday and what Dennis had told her. Would it be weird to tell Justin about it? How would he react?

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head, snuggling up to him again and sighed, "something happened to me at school Monday, but-… I thought about it. I don't think it's something to worry about."

"You sure?" he raised an eyebrow, confused at what she thought it wasn't something to worry about. What if he thought it was something to worry about? "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

She closed her tired eyes, smiling a little at his reaction. "I know I can tell you anything, but that doesn't mean I want to right now. I want to sleep, that's what I want."

Justin hummed silently, continuing to stroke her hair while glancing down at her. Her breathing slowed down, lying in this position, it seemed like she had fallen asleep on him. _That cutie._


	14. Chapter fourteen

She woke up in the middle of the night by Wishbone jumping on the couch, apparently wanting to lay next to Justin. He was still sleeping, mouth hanging open a little and his arm lying around her. It looked really cute, but would be bad of her to take a picture of him to tease him a little if it was already bad of her not to wake him up before she would leave.

She could've stayed and maybe it wasn't smart of her to walk alone when it was dark, but her mom would be worried if wasn't going to go home right now. She'd be waiting for her, lying wide awake in bed and the next morning she would've gotten the question, like why she was so late and why she didn't text her. She wasn't that strict and was fine with a lot of things, but she just wanted her daughters to be safe and let her know where they were at this time.

Nicole got up from the couch, petting Wishbone of his head and went to grab her back from the dinner table. She did it all silently and carefully because she didn't want to wake up Justin; he probably would've begged for her to stay or walk her home. She didn't want to bother him.

She put on her jacket, checking on the dark brunette one last time before opening the front door and walking out of the house, making her way home.

* * *

Her mom had called her name when she got home to make sure it was her, and the next morning she had gotten the question. Right after that though, it was alright and they were joking around before they all left the house to go to work or school.

Valerie finally had broken up with Aaron when he came at her house to apologize and she actually seemed pretty happy about it. She was talking about her celebrity crush, Harry Styles from One Direction, again and she couldn't stop checking out guys who walked by their table at lunch. It was crazy, but Nicole knew deep down she was still a little upset about Aaron and was just trying to distract herself from thinking about it.

"You know what I still really want?" Valerie questioned, lazily sitting on the couch with her feet on the table. It a usual thing for her to do when she was done walking her dog after school and when her parents weren't home. "I want to move into an apartment with you San Diego."

"Oh my god," Nicole nodded in excitement, grinning widely. "I remember when we talked about that in middle school. It was like… our dream."

"And I still have the whole image how the apartment should like in my head," she nodded, leaning her chin in the palm of her hand. "With a balcony."

"And I really wanted a cat," the blonde reminded her, giggling. "We should do something about it, you know. Make it all come true after college."

"I want to," she sighed, rolling her eyes at her strict parents. "But my mom wouldn't like it at all, me moving out of this boring town. I'm 20 for God's sake, I can take care of myself very well."

Nicole didn't know what to say. She knew they were very strict and that was the reason she felt uneasy hanging out with her friend when they were home, but it were still her parents and human beings with emotions.

"I mean, I know they love and all," Valerie shrugged her shoulders, running a hand through her red hair. "But that doesn't mean they have to rule my life. If I want to move to San Diego with you, I'm going to move to San Diego, whether they like it or not."

"But you can't run away," the blonde mumbling, making sure her friend knew. "You should try to talk to them-… Talk to your dad, he's more laid back than your mom. Try him first, I'm sure he's okay with it and even helps you out with a nice apartment to make sure everything's safe."

"And if not, he's going to tell my mom and they'll hate me forever."

"Probably," Nicole laughed, taking a sip of her bottle of water. "But I won't and that's important if we're going to be roommates. And by the way, they can't let you stay in their house for long. You're almost allowed to drink alcohol and what not."

"It's not like we're ever going to get drunk together," she rolled her eyes, sniggering as he pointed at her. "You won't drink anyway and not even try. That's-… No, I'm disappointed in you."

"Shut up," she blushed in embarrassment, giggling. "Let's move on to another subject, alright?"

"Okay," she moved her feet from the table, continuing to look at her with a smirk on her face. "So, how are you and Jc, or Justin… or whatever is his name is, doing?"

* * *

Nicole was almost finished with her homework, but didn't have any motivation to do the last few pages. It was like anything around her was important, making her stare at it until she got herself to turn to her Biology again. If she wanted to have it done for today, so she didn't have too much homework to do tomorrow, she had to make herself do it in some way.

She looked up automatically when her bedroom door got opened, revealing Justin with a camera and a standard in his hands. He wasn't filming, but there had to be reason why he brought a camera. "Hey, are you doing homework?"

"Yeah, but it has to be done Friday" she mumbled, closing her books before raising an eyebrow at him. "Why did you come here with a camera?"

"Oh, we're going to do a collaboration video," he made his way up to her bed, sitting down on it, making her turn around in the chair. "Because you left me in the middle of the night."

He knew she was camera shy, or very shy in general, and he didn't just do it because she left him without saying goodnight, but also because he wanted to have her cute reactions on video. That was why he was smirking now, keeping his gaze on her beautiful face.

"But… what do you want to do in the video?" she already felt her cheeks heating up by the thought of talking to a camera, looking down at her hands. "Like a tag thing or a challenge, or-…"

"Oh, we're just going to talk to the camera," he simply answered her, shrugging his shoulders like it was nothing. But it was definitely something for her. "We better start before I make you sing in front of a really big crowd at the mall-…"

"Okay, okay!" she stood up from the chair, checking herself into the mirror to then sit down next to him on the bed. "I'm right here. Do your thing."


	15. Chapter fifteen

She was nervous for her date with Justin but was also looking forward to it. He was patient with her and wanted her to feel comfortable around him, he didn't want to rush into things and she really liked that about him.

Practically they were already acting like a couple with their touching, teasing and being around each other a lot. She had to give him a chance and that's why she agreed to go on a date with him.

Valerie was so excited the next day at school when she told her about it and wanted to help her get ready. Just to make sure she was looking absolutely perfect that night.

The dress they had bought a few weeks ago was too over the top for both their liking, she went searching through her whole closet to find a casual but nice looking blue top with a black vest.

Now that she was almost done with her makeup, she could start with her hair. "Do you think I should straightening it or maybe curl it?"

"Do you what you think is best," Nicole shrugged her shoulders. It didn't matter anyway, did it? "Just try not to overdo things. I don't want to seem desperate."

Her friend roller her eyes, sighing dramatically, "then put on some perfume, because I want you to look like you're doing your actual best on this date and Jc-… Or is his name Justin?"

She laughed, shaking her head unbelievably, "Jc is fine. And why would perfume make it look like I did my best? It's not like he's going to smell me."

"If he's going to kiss you, he'll be smelling it," grinning, she began brushing her hair. "But just don't spray on your neck. Maybe he'll be kissing you there when you're-…"

"It's a first date-…"

They got cut off by the bell ringing, making them both start to squeal and Nicole to stand up. Valerie was at that time searching to her stuff, grabbing a perfume to spray it all over her in panic.

"Stop it," Nicole told her, walking out of the bedroom towards the stairs. Valerie was walking behind her, giggling nervous for her friend. "And please don't say anything about me, how much I like him for example."

She heard her dog, Nala, barking downstairs, probably at Justin who was invited inside by her mom, since she was only one home besides them. Her small dog was protecting them from evil, he was their little savior.

"I promise," Valerie laughed, walking down the stairs before her to see the boy standing there with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a beanie, a pink sweater and-… well, he just looked like she had imagined him. This boy was her friend's type, she couldn't agree more on that. "Hey, nice to meet you, Jc. I'm Valerie."

While they were talking, Nicole grabbed her back from the couch and went to look for her mom with a big smile on her face. She gave back a thumps up, before the three left the house.

"Have fun, okay?" the redhead waved at her friend, smirking. "I want details about the movie… and the other things. Call me when you get back."

"Details about the movie, it is. Nothing else." Justin opened the car for her to step in, smiling at the girl's reaction and then walked to the driver side, stepping in. "So, you ready?"

* * *

Opening the front door with a key, Nicole noticed nobody home, only hearing Nala bark. Her mom would go to her boyfriend's on a Saturday night and she had gotten used to it with her sister, but now that her sister was also at her boyfriend's, the whole house was empty and dark.

She knew she was going to be fine on her home, but now that Justin was still waiting in car for her to make sure she got inside safely and she wanted to talk about the San Diego thing with him, she couldn't help but turn around and look at him with a shy giggle.

Getting the hint, he stepped out and locked the car to walk after her into the house. He closed the door behind them, sending her a smile, "You're home alone, I see."

"But it's not that I'm not fine on my own," she played with her hair nervously, sitting down at the dinner table. "It's just that… well, you were still there and I had to talk to you and-…"

"Excuses," he joked to make her laugh, as he sat down in front of her. "You just like me being around and would like to marry me. I know you do, don't lie to yourself."

She smiled, now beginning to play with her notebook that was lying on the table while shaking her head. "No, I just-… I need advice and I don't know why I chose you, but… you're like the only person I trust with something like that, besides Valerie."

"Right," he focused his brown eyes on her now, confused and curious at what she said. "Of course you can trust me. Tell me about it."

She just began talking without even knowing where to start exactly; she told him about that they wanted to move to San Diego in apartment together, then about her friend's parents were strict and she didn't know whether they were going to say yes or no. Valerie already talked about with her dad, getting back a simple answer they both didn't expect. He was going to think about it, meaning they were a big chance he was going to say yes and talk about with his wife.

And then her mom came into the picture, telling him she didn't have any idea how to bring it over to her. Since she wasn't really strict, there was also a really big chance she was going to say yes and Nicole wasn't sure she wanted that answer. She knew she got homesick very fast and she didn't like traveling by plane… But what would it be to actually move out of this safe town, out of this house and away from her mom and sister?

"I think _you _are the one to ask yourself if you want to," he interrupted her, taking her hand with both of his hands. "Are you ready to go live in a new city, freaking almost 18 away from your family and hometown? Are you ready to take care of your own, to work every day to pay the bills?"

"That's dramatic-…"

"You want my advice, there's your advice," he cut her off, his eyes staring into her blue ones. "I want you to think about it, before you regret it. Because if you're not sure about it, then moving to San Diego and live together in an apartment with your friend isn't going to be fun at all."

She let it sink in, her chin leaning in the palm of her free hand and sighed. "Do you think I could do something like that?"

"If you really want something, you can do it."

She began to giggle at his seriousness, causing him to laugh along. "Why are you laughing at me? I'm here to give you advice, to help you out with your problems. Be nice to me."

"How are you so serious?" she stood up, shaking her head unbelievably while walking into the kitchen, to get them something to drink. It was open kitchen, so she could see him but he stood up anyway, to go after her. "I mean, usually you're so… I don't know, funny and cute. And now you're all manly and serious."

"Do you want to see me get manly and serious?" he pointed at where they sat at the dinner table, shaking his head with a snigger. "That back there, nothing. I can get really manly and serious, but I wouldn't want to scare you."

"Oh, right," she said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at him. "And why would I get scared?"

Looking for the right words, he pulled her closer by her waist, foreheads touching. "Because you're too sweet and very adorable."

"But I'm very brave," she felt her cheeks heating up, wanting turn away from him but she couldn't even make herself move a muscle. "And… ehm… well, just brave. I think."

He hummed, acting like he didn't believe her. "Oh, show me how brave you are. Surprise me."

There was a silence between them, only hearing Nala snore on her pillow that was lying on the floor by the back door. She knew he meant she had to kiss him, but… how was she going to kiss him? This was her first kiss.

Frowning at how she ever was going to do it, she sighed deeply and looked away from him. There was no chance he'd turn her down or push her away, because he wanted it. He didn't ask her out on a date for nothing; he liked her and wanted to be with her.

That encouraged her, lying her small hand on his cheek and give him a smile, before pressing her lips on his within a second. This was right, he was right for her.


End file.
